
Waiting for home: Hedida Omer still wants to return home one day
A year after the conflict in Sudan broke out, people are still struggling to survive in their new ‘home’
Andrew Ewoku
Millions of people have been fleeing since civil war broke out in Sudan in April last year. According to the United Nations, almost six million people were displaced within the country by October and another 1.4-million people have fled into five neighbouring countries – the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.
The latest figures indicate that 40 per cent of the refugee population are children. Refugees, many of whom walked for days and days, have lost family members, friends, their homes and livelihoods and are now faced with acute food shortages. They are also unable to afford even the most basic medical treatments.
Harrowing ordeal
ForAfrika is among the agencies partnering with the government of South Sudan to provide some respite to those struggling to survive in their new circumstances. This has not been a simple task since South Sudan itself is still recovering after decades of war. Millions of its own people are in need of humanitarian assistance, and almost 60 per cent of the population are facing high levels of food insecurity.
We have distributed 34 metric tons of MannaPack fortified rice, which is able to feed 11,000 people, in the Gorom Refugee Settlement camp near Juba. Exhaustion in the camp is palpable; the people here have been through a harrowing ordeal. Besides witnessing the horrors of war, many of those who trekked here were beaten or raped en route.
Hedida Omer lost her two children, her husband and her brothers in the attacks in her homeland.
“This is the only food we have received this year, please come again and check on us. We are grateful for this rice. Unlike the food we eat, this rice tastes familiar,” she says. She adds that she still hopes to return to her country one day.
Amina Suleiman, who got divorced from her husband a few weeks before the war broke out, shakes her head as she waits for her ration of food. “It’s hard to get used to this life” she says. “Everything is limited. But, we have learnt to accept this situation. We cannot change it and have to cope with it; I never imagined I would have to raise my three children alone and in such dire circumstances.”
Andrew Ewoku is Communications Specialist in South Sudan